Teaching Sequencing:
A Step-By-Step Process for K-2 Students
By Bridget Wortman, National Board Certified Teacher
North Topsail Elementary School, Hampstead, North Carolina
Objective: Teaching sequencing as a step toward complete comprehension of a
text.
Teaching sequencing can lead to the integration of a variety of curriculum areas.
Children who have a significant understanding of how to sequence events often
have a more concrete knowledge base for other basic comprehension skills.
Teaching sequencing as a step toward complete comprehension of a text is the
focus of the following instruction.
The first step to teaching sequencing in the K-2 area is to link the process with
real literature. After reading a pre-selected book to the class, I present them with
picture cards that depict key events in the story (usually 6-7 cards). The students
are chosen at random to receive a card and they work together to put their
picture cards in order as they remember the events from the story. Once they
have agreed on the event sequence, they turn to the class and the students
agree or disagree on the sequence. This allows not only the students who were
chosen to participate to be actively engaged, but it also allows the entire class to
verbalize their understanding of the storyline. This is an excellent informal
assessment tool for comprehension of a given piece of literature. Through the
participation assessment and the responses from the class as a whole, I then
determine whether or not we need to reread the story, shuffle the cards and do it
again, or proceed with the next step in sequencing activities.
Once the children have mastered the storyline using picture cards, we then move
to key sentences from the book. I use pre-made sentence strips with actual
sentences from the book that have the most impact on the important events in
the story. The sentence strips are displayed in a hanging chart in random order.
I read the sentences to the students as a group. I then ask students to volunteer
to come up to the chart and move one sentence strip at a time so that they can
be read in the proper order. Once the sentence strips have all been placed, we
read the story again in order using the chart. If a sentence is out of order, we
then refer to the book and correct any misplacement. This again is another form
of informal assessment that can be easily used to determine the comprehension
and sequencing abilities of your students. When working with students who are
in need of remediation in reading and/or sequencing, drawing pictures that go
with the sentences can offer them a picture clue, much like they would use when
decoding unknown words in a text.
My next step in teaching sequencing is focused on a simple beginning, middle
and end chart. On this chart, we simply write in the main events that come at the
beginning, middle and end of a story that was read to the class. We practice
condensing storylines into three main events. This is done so that the children
will learn that authors will often write stories in this manner and help them to clue
into the most important parts of a story when reading for comprehension. This
three-box chart can be used in small groups or in whole-group discussions.
Depending on how it is used, it can be a formal or informal assessment tool on
sequencing events. To use this three-block chart as a formal assessment, the
teacher can have the children write or draw the three main events of a book that
is read, but not discussed, with the class. Informally, the teacher can assess the
students as they offer responses to the questions that will provide adequate
responses to complete the chart.
After mastery of the basic three-block beginning, middle and end chart, I then
move on to teaching sequencing using a flow map. The flow map offers
unlimited boxes that move in sequential order throughout the storyline. Due to
the fact that the children are not limited to a number of boxes, as they are in the
three-box chart, they can add all of the events that they can remember to a flow
map. This can provide the teacher with a clear view of comprehension skills at a
much higher level of understanding. When introducing the flow map, I generally
use an event that happens daily in class, such as taking up homework or going to
lunch. This provides children with the opportunity to participate because the
event is well known and easily retrieved from their memory base. Once the class
becomes proficient in completing a flow map on a daily task, we proceed to
completing one on a story. I usually do this on the board or on the overhead
projector so that everyone can participate in the creation of the flow map. I allow
the students to dictate to me what they want in the boxes and if another student
challenges the sequential event that another student offers, we reference back to
the book. This reinforces to the student that when they question a given
storyline, they can always reference back in the story for the correct order of
events.
To bring sequencing to a higher level of thinking skill, I provide the students with
index cards and allow them to either work in groups or independently to create a
flow map using the cards. This activity provides them with the ability to add in
cards when they have forgotten important events, move the cards around to
check another student’s comprehension skills, and create a visual key for
comprehension. This activity can also be used for remediation, as the students
can draw pictures of important events onto the cards if writing the events is too
difficult for their developmental readiness.
Teaching sequencing provides the teacher with both informal and formal modes
of assessment. It also promotes comprehension skills and can be integrated into
a variety of curriculum areas. Sequencing has to be taught in small steps, as
relating an event to a given order is often a difficult task for beginning learners.
Using these steps to teach sequential order can provide your students with a
good foundation for using tools that promote the ability to comprehend and retell
events in a developmentally appropriate manner.